The invention relates to a tool holder for a vacuum cleaner or other cleaning appliance.
Many vacuum cleaners operate in the cylinder mode, that is to say that the dirty air inlet is located at the end of a wand which is connected to the main body of the vacuum cleaner by a flexible hose. Dirty air is drawn into the dirty air inlet by means of a fan driven by a motor, both of which are located in the main body of the vacuum cleaner. The dirty air inlet is normally formed by a cleaner head, but there are times when the cleaner head is inappropriate and the user of the vacuum cleaner requires to replace the cleaner head with a tool more appropriate to the type of cleaning being carried out. The most common types of tool are a brush tool (incorporating a ring of bristles surrounding a suction inlet), a crevice tool (comprising a slim, elongate suction pipe suitable for providing access into comers and other places difficult to access) and a stair tool (consisting of an angled inlet suitable for use on stairs). In many cases, these tools are carried on the main body of the cleaner itself. This can be inconvenient for the user, particularly when the user is elderly or disabled. It would be more convenient to locate the tools more readily to hand.
Various proposals have been made in which the tools for a vacuum cleaner are carried by a tool holder in the vicinity of the portion of the wand or hose normally gripped by the user during use. One such proposal is set out in European Patent Application No EP 0 747 000A. However, the device disclosed in this publication has several disadvantages. Firstly, the tools are stored directly on the handle which makes the handle bulky and unwieldy. Secondly, each of the tools must be placed in a specially shaped recess and therefore care must be taken to ensure that each tool is correctly placed. The construction is inconvenient and can be expensive to add to an existing vacuum cleaner. Because of the fixed position of each tool with respect to the handle, one or more of the tools is also less readily accessible by a user than others.
Another proposal for carrying tools on a vacuum cleaner is set out in UK Patent No 1 460 119. In this document, a dedicated tool carrier is designed to be affixed to the fitting which connects the hose to the main body of the vacuum cleaner. Because the tools are carried so close to the main body, there is no advantage over other pieces of prior art in that the user of the vacuum cleaner must make a considerable effort to locate the correct tool before attaching it to the wand for appropriate use. An arrangement for retaining the free end of the hose of a vacuum cleaner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,789.
None of the prior art proposes a tool holder for holding the tools on a vacuum cleaner which can be positioned at a convenient point away from the portion of the wand normally gripped by the user but still in a convenient location. Furthermore, none of the prior art discloses a tool holder which can be positioned at one of a number of locations so that the tools are convenient to any specific user.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tool holder for a vacuum cleaner which overcomes the disadvantages specified above. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tool holder which is more versatile and able to be adapted to the needs of individual users. A further object of the invention is to provide a tool holder to which tools can be easily attached and from which tools can be easily released.
The invention provides a tool holder for a vacuum cleaner or other cleaning appliance according to Claim 1. The ability of the tool holder to be attached directly to a flexible portion of the hose at any point between the main body and the wand allows the tool to be positioned more conveniently for any one user. Preferably, the tool can be positioned at any one of a number of points between the main body and the wand. This allows the user complete control over the position of the tool holder along the hose. Thus any user can position the tool holder according to their individual requirements. Furthermore, if desired, more than one such tool holder can be located on the hose so that a large number of tools can be carried ready for use by the user of the vacuum cleaner.
Preferably, the tool receiving means comprise at least one peg or socket for slidably receiving the tool and further retaining means for retaining a tool on or in each of the at least one peg or socket in a snap-fit manner. This provides a simple construction which is easy to use and which does not require further tools or awkward manipulations to release the tool from the tool holder. The simple tongue and groove arrangement of the retaining means is a particularly simple and effective arrangement. Further preferable and advantageous features are set out in the subsidiary claims.